Join the community designed to educate students and all learners in 21st century learning. The mission consists of building collaborative partnerships between education, businesses, government, and community leaders to promote learning skills needed in the 21st century for life, work, and citizenship. P21 strives to prepare all students for the challenges of the future. Find a framework for student outcomes with support system outlines. Resources for educators include sample lesson ideas, Common Core alignment, P21 Common Core Tool Kit, professional development guides, 21st century skill maps in a variety of subject areas, case studies of exemplar schools, a newsletter, and a Blogazine. Resources for policymakers include information on definitions, framework, and implementing 21st century skills. A parents' guide contains information on 21st century skills and leadership. Most downloadable materials are free. Get a press kit or join an advocacy group or mailing list.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Investigate P21 to see if you are meeting your students' needs for the 21st century. Use the parent tip sheet, real world examples, or the PowerPoint to clarify your goals to parents and administration. Explore literacy maps and skills maps to compare your methods of instruction. Look for ways to support professional development in your school. Become more effective using Common Core Curriculum. Join the blog and change your world. This site contains great research, ideas, and goals to include in grants, mission statements, or strategic planning.

Tack up a digital corkboard and remember all of your lists, items to do, recipes, decorating, or share comments with others. This site offers a digital version of the corkboard from the "old days." Fill it with whatever you want! Even better than the traditional corkboard, you can create as many different digital corkboards as you want. Create the name, tags, and double click to add to your new corkboard. Keep it private or share with co-workers or friends. Go online to access, or use an iPhone app. Click on Corkboard Mobile to use with other mobile devices. Add the Corkboard bookmarklet to take a screen shot of a web page and save it.

In the Classroom

Think big and small when you use Corkboard! Use a Corkboard to communicate with each of your students' families. Add simple reminders, lists of spelling or vocabulary words, homework assignments, project directions, field trip dates, after school club dates, or general parent tips. Share the cork board(s) with all parents. There is also an easy way parents can go back and reference earlier Corkboards. When planning an event or field trip, make your list on Corkboard and let parents easily make their choice. Updates are immediate. Use this tool for brainstorming on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Post the link for the Corkboard and allow students to continue the brainstorm from home. Encourage collaboration between group members in a snap. Set up your parent conference schedule easily! Bring a bit of technology into language arts with class reflections, or even individual reflections. Have students create study guides together from home or even at centers. Reinforce concepts from any subject as a study guide. This tool makes it easy to conduct an author's chair. Document steps of a problem-based learning experience together. Watch current events come alive. No longer are you limited by wall space, digital corkboards are limitless!

Choosito! is a search engine providing safe access to the worldwide web through filtering of reading levels and subject areas for education. Create an account to add class information and add your collections. Search Choosito! using filters for reading level and subject. Limit searches to Choosito's Library, your collections, or Choosito! Web. Easily share searches using social networking links or save to your library. Be sure to check out the Choosito! Start Guides for a quick overview to getting started with this search engine.

In the Classroom

Create a classroom account and provide a link on classroom computers for student searches at any time. Differentiate in your class by assigning reading by reading level. ESL/ELL and resource teachers will find this especially helpful when looking for reading material at your students' level for topics assigned in core classes. Be sure to introduce Choosito! on an interactive whiteboard or projector for students to understand how to use this search engine. Share Choosito! with parents for use at home.

Create a slideshow with voice narrations and images at Slidestory. Download the free slideshow publisher and begin. Publish your work on the site or join an online group to share your work. Find answers to questions in the forum. Find examples of projects on the site categorized by subject. Join the RSS feed to stay up with the latest creations. Under support, find detailed information about each part of this process. When finished, save the file on your computer, publish to the Slidestory site, or copy the embeddable code to post it on your website. There is no need to download Slidestory if you only want to view the examples and selections.

In the Classroom

Use SlideStory in all areas of your classroom life. Have each student create an electronic portfolio for use during the year. Suggested online portfolios are Easyblog, reviewed here, for K-6 students, and
bulb, reviewed here, for older students. Have students use Slidestory when writing reading responses. Discover a new format for publishing writing of any genre: narrative, expository, or persuasive. Begin digital storytelling in an easy, simple way with all you need. Become a character from a story and retell the story in that character's words. Have students record lessons of them teaching content to other students. Record your lessons for flipping your classroom. Record directions of a big project that your class has and publish it on your website for student reference. Choose a character or period of history and create a memory book. Have students describe their futures in a leadership presentation. Have students make study guides for content review.

City Technology offers resources for students and educators to learn about engineering. You learn through the creation of projects and integration across curricular areas such as math and science. The page for kids shares projects for kids to create on their own. Each project features a video showing how to make the item and a list of materials needed. Choose the section for educators to find complete units on Energy Systems, Force and Motion, and Stuff that Works correlated to math and science standards. Each unit includes a video and downloadable lesson plans.

In the Classroom

Use this site as part of any unit about force, motion, or energy. Have student groups create the different projects found on the site, and share their creations with classmates. Have students upload a photo they took of their project, and add voice bubbles to explain what they learned using a tool such as Superlame, reviewed here. Have students create projects found on City Technology, then host your own Science Fair!

Skyenimals is a website just for kids to learn about real and make-believe animals. Skyenimals are mixed up and imaginary animals created by kids. Explore and choose different animals to find related pictures, games, puzzles, and more. Choose the activities link to find coloring pages as well as online and printable activities.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share a link on classroom computers for use as a center. Allow students to explore their imaginative side and use this site to create their own Skyenimal to use as inspiration for a creative writing project.

Find, organize, edit, and share your photos from one place with Google Photos. Automatically upload pictures from any device to one storage platform. Use keywords to locate any uploaded image. Use the editing tools to create animated GIF's from images or combine related images and videos into a movie with a matching soundtrack. Google Photos allows you to upload photos from any mobile device and provides free unlimited storage for photos up to 16 megapixels or videos up to 1080 HD.

In the Classroom

Create a classroom Google account for students to upload video projects or images for projects. Share raw materials for student multimedia projects, such as photos of lab experiments or local historic sites. Share classroom projects privately and easily from your Google account. In elementary classrooms, teachers can use this tool to share photos from field trips, assemblies, project presentations, and other special events. Share the password with parents only. Have older students create their own Google account for collaborating on multimedia projects.

Bloomz is a tool that has more than six free features that teachers need to communicate with their classroom community: share photos, schedule conferences, send reminders, and more. These features are all in one place. So don't use one program to share photos, one to send reminders, one to share calendar updates, and another to schedule volunteers and conferences. Just use Bloomz and do all of the work from the same site. Once you have signed up with your email, watch the introduction video and view the demo class to see how easy Bloomz is to use. This tool works with all mobile devices and computers.

In the Classroom

Use Bloomz for all your communications with your classroom community. Not only that, but share important documents (field trip permission slips, a syllabus, etc.) for others to access. Post photos of special projects in class or from field trips. P.E. teachers and coaches can use this tool to post what skills students are learning and action pictures of student involvement in games and activities. Parents can download the free app or receive updates via email. Currently, there are three ways to invite parents and other class members. Email, enter the information manually, or upload an Excel spreadsheet and send a bulk invitation. Create groups within your Bloomz class and invite members. These groups might be volunteers in the classroom, volunteers for driving on a field trip, and more. Then you can communicate just to that group when necessary. Introduce Bloomz to parents at Back to School Night in the fall, Open House in the spring, or during parent conferences. Encourage resource teachers and others to join your class community to see what your class is doing. Update Bloomz on the go with your mobile device!

Looking for a quiz tool that is better than all the rest? Quizizz is a free tool. It works on any device: web browser, iOS, Android and Chrome apps. You can access hundreds of ready-made learning quizzes or create your own. Join as a teacher, pick a quiz, and use the code for a virtual room to give to your students. Alternatively, you can create your own quiz on Quizizz, even importing questions from excel/CSV files with just a click of a button. Students use the code to enter and submit a nickname, code name, or numerical name (students do not have to register). Better yet, if you have Google Classroom students can join by signing in with their Google Account; just one click. If you assign a Quizizz through Google Classroom, all your data gets updated in your Classroom dashboard. You will get notifications when students complete assignments, and their responses and grades show. Teachers can choose to make their quiz public or private. Embed images with your questions. Check or uncheck the settings including music. You can even duplicate an existing quiz to save into My Quizizz. A created Quizizz can have randomized or non-randomized questions.

Don't miss the memes that are displayed when students answer a question; these are sure to be a hit with students. You can also customize your Quizizz by creating your own Memes. Use images of the school mascot, students pets, or favorite game characters to create a set of ten or more memes. Click the My Memes from the top menu, then the plus symbol. You are now ready to start. Be sure to Click "Start Game" after students have entered the code. Send the game link to students (or other teachers to use with their classes) by email, website, or social media. Set time limits of 30 seconds to 5 minutes for students to answer each question. This allows more time for more complex questions. Students earn points for speed and accuracy. Unlike other sites, both teacher and students can see the questions, answers, and the leader board throughout the quiz. Most other tools require the teacher to project the answers and leader board on a whiteboard. The leader board can be turned OFF in this tool as well. And, what is the best part of this tool? Two separate classes can play together using this tool. Quizziz works on any web enabled device including smartphones and tablets, and has an iOS app.

You can now email student reports to parents (even send the student reports to multiple/all parents at once), the main navigation bar has moved from the top to the left, and there is a search bar that you can access on all pages, and now you can search both your quizzes and your reports. Quizizz is now available in Spanish and will soon be adding other languages. Don't miss their new Jungle theme with music, backgrounds, and GIFs... oh my!

In the Classroom

As with other similar tools, Quizizz is a formative assessment tool that is best used to obtain information about how the class as a whole is doing in understanding content material. Use Quizizz when asking questions that require a reading of a passage or longer time to answer questions. Be sure to set the time limit to the upper reaches of 5 minutes. Students can use code names or numerical screen names for anonymity if desired. Create pretests to offer to gifted students to "test out" of already learned material. Students can easily see the choices and choose answers using a browser on a laptop or any device. Make it a class challenge! Use this tool at the start of a new chapter or unit. Students can see who is at the top of the leaderboard during the play and can even ask questions while going through the quiz. Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content. Print individual student reports for use during parent conferences and IEP meetings. As with other tools where there is a leader board, it is helpful to have a collaborative environment where competition is not the goal, instead working together and improving is important.

In the Classroom

View videos and advice together on an interactive whiteboard or projector as part of your Internet safety lessons. Ask students to visit the site and create a multimedia presentation about the information they learn there. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos using a tool like Stupeflix, reviewed here, about online safety and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.

Find an answer to your question or great question starters for any conversation here with this free tool! Scroll through a few questions on the home page and click Find Out More to get to the answer. Enter your search terms or question into the search box (I want to find out about...) Scroll down further in the page to view specific topics such as Animals and Nature, Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, History, Music, Art, and Literature, Math, and more! Scroll down further to find information by category: What's New, Quizzes, Videos, Galleries, Fun Facts, and My Stuff. Create an account to save information in My Stuff. This tool has an option to sign up for a Teacher account, and coming soon will be the option for a Parent account.

In the Classroom

DK FindOut features subject-based, curriculum-linked articles that support classroom learning. These resources also contain ideas for projects or homework. Sign up for a Teacher account and have the option to use the Lesson Planner to organize information in the creation of a lesson. Use this site to find answers to popular student questions. Bookmark this site on class computers for students to find answers to questions they may have in class. Place a link to this site on your class web page for students to access when the questions pop up! Use this as an incentive for students to "teach" and share what they understand about the answer to their classmates. They could do this in an impromptu speech, or more formally with an infographic using a tool such as Easl.ly, reviewed here, or a word cloud (graphic) using Wordle, reviewed here. Find great question starters for lessons and build an engaging lesson using many of these curricular resources.

Versal allows you to share your expertise with others by creating interactive courses. Knowing how to code is not required. Versal does it all. It is a versatile publishing platform where you can develop your lessons around text, quizzes, surveys, videos, images, and interactive learning gadgets. The gadgets set Versal apart from the other classroom management/publishing tools. The promise of interactive JavaScript graphics and simulations makes Versal a very powerful tool. Once your course, demonstration, lesson, or tutorial is finished, you can direct your participants to use it on Versal via email invitations. You can also embed it on your website or blog. Signup is simple with your name, email, and password. Once registration is completed, you will be directed to your dashboard. There is no waiting for a response email. Authoring your course is only available on desktops/laptops computers (web browsers). Participants can use a desktop/laptop computer or any mobile device with a modern web browser and an internet connection.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Before you get started, view the extensive Help Center and the Using Versal section. Learn anything you need to know. Create a course about gadgets and how to use them (all were free to use at the time of this review), publishing, and much more. Watch videos for how to embed Versal courses on Edmodo, Blackboard, Blogger, Wordpress, and many other tools. The embed code is free. Become familiar with this program, and have students present projects using it. Since Versal is web-based, you can create easy, simple activities or elaborate units. Start building Common Core aligned and differentiated activities such as reading, filling out concept maps, writing paragraphs, drawing, answering questions, taking quizzes, and more. Add links to read and hear multimedia content such as videos and slideshows. For longer videos, you may want to put a tag or comment in certain areas. Use a program like The Mad Video, reviewed here, to accomplish this. Tags can be as simple as "answer question 4 now." Since Versal is an interactive and collaborative program, have literature circles complete write ups, discussions, and final presentations about the book they read using Versal. Lab partners can present their findings, and math students can demonstrate how they solved a problem.

This tool is a great lesson plan resource for correlating art with other curricular areas! Use the drop-down to choose a Primary Curricular Area (Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies). Then choose one of the Academic Art Standards: Aesthetic Response, Critical Response, Historical and Cultural Contexts, or Production, Performance, and Exhibition. Click the resulting lessons to view a PDF that includes artwork images linked to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Common Core standards, and a detailed lesson plan.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site as a resource for art projects throughout the year, especially if budget cuts have taken away your art teacher! Use this site as a way to get students interested in art and its relationship with other subject areas and its relevance in our life.

Digital Citizenship offers a large number of resources for teaching digital citizenship for students of all ages, teachers, and parents. Choose from primary, secondary, or parents to begin. Each section includes videos, games, and activities for learning responsible digital citizenship. The site was created in Australia. American English speakers may notice some slight differences in spellings and pronunciations. The videos reside on sites other than Digital Citizenship. Some are on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Bookmark Digital Citizenship for use in any Internet safety lesson or unit. Create a link to individual games or activities on classroom computers. Be sure to share a link to this site with parents for use at home.

See sound waves moving through molecules in the air with this interactive. Be sure to notice the red handle at the top. Click the lever to the Illustration side to view sound waves moving through the air. Click the word "Clap" to see the sound movements. Moving your cursor around the resulting sound wave will display labels for the areas, items, and a definition. Read information about sound to the right. Move the lever towards Exploring Pitch and Volume. Choose to Strike hard or Strike gently, then click a glass. View the sound waves and the frequency of the sound. Want to print the results? Click the print button at the top.

In the Classroom

Use these activities to introduce sound before discussing in class as a way to create more connections with the material. Allow time for students to play with Exploring Pitch and Volume and create a simple sentence to describe what they learned. Encourage students to predict what will happen first before striking the glass!

Make a collage of your images into a variety of shapes. Download the free program for Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, and iPad. Drag images into the window and choose the collage shape (heart, characters, animals, and more) or create and customize your own shape. Collages do not show the company watermark, and you can export them to Photoshop. Follow the demo video for tips and tricks.

In the Classroom

Use Shape Collage to take a variety of images to make a collage. Use this tool to create pages of class memories for the end of the year and create yearbook type effects easily. Since you can create and customize the shapes, this would be a great tool to represent a theme for any story, novel, or unit of study.

Find ready to use standards-based lessons that teach digital citizenship for grades 4-8. Lesson topics include Communication and Collaboration, Digital Citizenship, Privacy, Media Literacy, Cyberbullying, Copyright, and Information Literacy. Integrate these digital citizenship lessons into the content area subjects, ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Most lessons start with a video for the adult and also have a video for the student. Download videos in a variety of formats (mp4, WMV, MOV) or copy the link provided. The Media Literacy lessons have several examples of advertisement videos that use YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube. Under Tools and Resources find a professional development webinar that hosts a middle school teacher discussing digital citizenship.

In the Classroom

At the beginning of the year, use the lessons included as a basis for developing a school digital citizenship program or even use with your own class. Use at a parents' informational night to describe the type of lessons that help address responsible digital citizens. Post a link on your class website for parents to view at home. Create a school mission statement regarding technology use or rules for technology. When doing research projects, be sure to review.

Comments

This is an articulate and smart program. The videos and materials support the three strands of digital citizenship: safety and security; literacy; and ethical and responsible use.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12

Never leave your easy chair as you journey beyond the road to far away places using Google Maps Treks! Choose Gombe National Park, Pyramids of Giza, Angkor Wat, Colorado River, or the polar bears at Churchill. Tour Taj Mahal, Venice, Galapagos Islands, Eiffel Tower, Mt. Fuji, Everest, Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon Basin, and more. Click on the option and then click the open in Maps or Views button. On maps with multiple placemarks, click the placemark to view information about the location, and then click the title to go to the map. Choose from a variety of images taken at various locations found along the bottom. Some images are photospheres and can be manipulated using the sphere icon along the bottom right. Use the arrows in the sphere to rotate the image, giving a panoramic view of the location as you click. Use the familiar Google map tools to zoom in and out. Some Treks offer short videos that are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

If you teach geography, this one is a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. View these different places whether your content includes history, geography, literature, science, languages, and more. View places discussed in class, or in stories. Look at different cultural areas or environments in the world. Choose a trek as an inspiration for further research about the area, the inspiration for a student created poem or short story, artistic work, and many other projects. Encourage student groups to choose one of the places on this site to present to the class, highlighting various economic, recreational, historical, and cultural factors at each place. You may want students to use a tool such as Knoema, reviewed here, or Data - The World Bank, reviewed here, to make sure students get accurate information. Use this as a class "Where I visited in Google Maps" project! As students ask questions about the various places, encourage discovery in finding the answers together.

Comments

Can't wait to use this after the Lit Trip session.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12

Easily record and share audio with Clyp. You can use Clyp on a web browser or as an app from the Apple store or Google Play. You have two options when creating your file. You can scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Start Recording" button and use the microphone on your computer to record a message. You can also upload an audio file from your computer. Use the social network links to share via Facebook, Twitter, email, and more. To save your file, create an account using your Facebook profile or email. Account creation allows you to manage Clyps across devices (with a modern web browser and Internet access), make files private, and disable downloads. Recording works best with the iOS or Android apps. Caution: This site is open to the public and anyone can post material (title and songs) that may not be appropriate in a classroom. We do NOT recommend allowing students of any age to explore the already created content on this site.

In the Classroom

When using this site in the classroom in any capacity, we highly recommend providing the direct link to your created material (or your students). This will limit students' exposure to questionable songs on the homepage. Record snippets of information as reminders on your class website or instructions for students to follow. This is terrific for learning support students or non-readers! Have students describe aspects of classroom learning experiences to share with others, such as what they learned from a science experiment or found out about life in Colonial America. Record a quick message for an absentee student and email the link to him/her explaining how to catch up on missing work. Create tutorial pieces that students can use as study aids (or have them create them for each other). Use this site in world language classes or for ESL/ELL students: have students record and listen to their own pronunciation or send short messages to each other to translate. Have students use this site to practice speeches before the presentation to hear their speed, tone, and words. Use this site for research presentations, instructions for a substitute, or many other possibilities. With younger students, read a short story on Clyp, and have students follow along using a picture book. Alternatively have the students read their own stories into Clyp and email the readings to their parents! For Mothers Day, why not have students record messages for mom or grandma? Another idea: Create a class wiki where parents can "find" the entire selection of Clyps for Mother's Day (or another holiday). Record Clyps of each student talking about the importance of Moms for Mother's Day or how grateful they are for certain things at Thanksgiving. Embed them all in a class wiki to share with parents. Just email the URL for the collection. Again, be sure to provide direct links to the students' Clyps.

Relax and enjoy calming images and sounds with Calm. Choose from soothing images such as gentle raindrops, beaches, or mountains with accompanying soft sounds. Mute sounds if desired to enjoy relaxing images on their own. Set a timer for 2 through 20 minutes to take it all in. Enjoy this fabulous tool for lowering your stress or refocusing anytime throughout the day!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use Calm to settle students down after activities or during transition times. Use it to relax them before "big tests." This site may be perfect for those students that need a little quiet time in their daily routine. Use this site with any student who may need some quiet time between transitions. Share this site to use with students while studying. They could study for 15 minutes (or longer, depending on the age) and "earn" relaxation time. If students feel stressed out about a project, try starting with some short relaxation time to calm the nerves. Use this site for yourself: relaxing, destressing, and enjoying life for a few minutes. Use this tool during a unit in study skills to talk about ways to refocus as you study. There is great value in incubation time before actually launching into a new project or creative challenge, and this tool can help!